Vigilante
by pprbckwrtr
Summary: Someone is doing the job for them. The question is why.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own these characters just borrowing them for my own, and hopefully your, enjoyment

* * *

The four friends were sitting in their usual booth, at their usual diner, having their usual after having just left another crime scene.

"We know these crimes are connected. If I don't break the story someone else will, you can't keep it under wraps much longer." Cindy said, pretty much stating the obvious.

"We aren't ready to officially call them connected yet." Lindsay said exasperated.

Cindy attempted her own l_aser vision, _"Well then do it unofficially."

Lindsay shot a look to the other two group members, who were trying desperately to stay out of the fight. "Look, these three men have nothing in common."

"Except that they all skirted the system. I did the stories on each one of them, outlining their crimes only to have to write about how they got off on technicalities two weeks later. And now they are all dead and they have nothing in common?"

"So this is about you? You don't like printing retractions?" Jill said "you know we all had a stake in those cases."

Cindy gave her a _that hurt_ look, "that is not what I meant and you damn well know it."

Claire finally broke in to defuse the situation, "we know these cases are related but what good does it do to put it out there. It's not like all the criminals are going to plead guilty so they don't get killed by some vigilante."

This made Lindsay smile, "it would be nice if they did." She turned and looked at Cindy. "The chief doesn't want the city to think that there is some nut job out there doing our job for us. "

"Don't you think if he knows you are on to him he might stop or mess up?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. At least not until I'm the chief."

"Fine" Cindy set a twenty on the table as she stood up, "I gotta go write my story." Lindsay grabbed her hand and looked at her questioningly. "Don't worry. It'll be some random guy killed by some other random guy." Cindy assured her.

* * *

As Cindy threw her bag onto her desk she heard her name bellowed from her editor David's office. She knew as soon as she heard it what she was going to be in for, what she didn't expect was for 'suck-up' Scott to be sitting in the office too.

"So what's the word on this murder?" David asked.

"Just your run of the mill killing." She thought she sounded convincing but she could tell by his look that he wasn't buying.

"Scott and I were talking about how it would be a pretty big coincidence if this wasn't connected to the other two. Considering how the DA's office let these guys walk and now they end up dead."

"They didn't let them walk. My sources say that they aren't ready to call them connected yet." Cindy had known this was going to happen and this was the story she had wanted to write all along but now she found herself defending her friends.

"Yeah well Scott is ready to run a story on how the DA's office dropped the ball. Considering DDA Bernhardt handled all three cases I think we can make a pretty good story."

"The DA angle is not the one to take. You're just going to piss a lot of people off." She was trying desperately to convince him. "I just need a little more time."

He motioned for Scott to leave. "I want to talk to you," he said to Cindy, "close the door. " She complied and sank into the chair vacated by Scott.

"I know you have some sort of relationship with Bernhardt and Inspector Boxer but you are supposed to be a journalist not a publicist."

That was a low blow, "I have gotten a lot of good, and I might add exclusive, information from them on past cases." She almost couldn't believe she was arguing against her story. "I am not going to burn them just so you can rush the story. And did I mention its the wrong story, this has nothing to do with the job that J.. DDA Bernhardt did on those cases."

"Scott is doing the story, and if you don't watch yourself he will be doing all the stories."

Cindy stood up, "are we done?" she stormed out of his office without waiting for an answer. She threw herself into her chair and glared at the smug look on Scott's face. Finally she pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Just a heads up, you are going to get reamed in the morning edition." She flipped her phone shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Cindy heard the banging as soon as she stepped out of the shower. She threw on her robe and walked into the living room. She knew exactly who she would find on the other side of the door and she dreaded the thought of actually opening it. She barely got the door open before Jill forced herself past and into the apartment.

"What the hell is this?" She asked waving the newspaper in the air.

"It's not my name on the byline." Cindy said as she closed the door and followed Jill.

"What kind of rag to you work for? I've seen some pretty irresponsible stories before but this is outrageous."

"I told you this was going to happen. If you had let me do my article it would have trumped this crap, but no like an idiot I did as I was told and I got buried on page five. So if you want to tear into someone go yell at the jerk who got the front page or the dumb-ass who okayed it." Cindy walked over and opened the door, "Now if you don't mind I have to get ready for work, if I'm lucky enough to still have a job."

Jill stormed out without another word and Cindy slammed the door behind her.

* * *

After spending the day at a crime scene Lindsay was finally able to make it to the morgue to check on Claire's progress with the victim. "The witnesses I talked to made it out to be an argument over a girl that got out of hand." Lindsay said as she came in.

"Sounds right, Mr. Johnson here died from stab wounds but he does have some bruising on his face and hands like he was in a fight." Claire reported as she covered the body in front of her and took off her gloves.

Lindsay glanced into the office and saw Jill sitting behind Claire's desk. "What is she doing in there?"

"Hiding." Claire informed her as they walked into the office.

"Denise on the warpath because of the paper?" Lindsay asked as she sat on the couch.

"She is out for blood, mine unfortunately. I think Cindy was right. We should have let her run with her story."

"I couldn't do that, besides that doesn't mean that they had to run the story they did." Lindsay shot Jill a reassuring smile before continuing, "speaking of the Register, they sent someone else to my crime scene today. I think it was that Scott, I pretty much blew him off."

"That explains why she won't return my calls." Jill said as she checked her cell for missed calls, again.

Claire looked at her two friends, "Cindy is a big girl, she knew that the story wasn't ready yet or else she would have gone with it and dealt with you two after." She said nudging Lindsay's shoulder. "And she is just as mad about that front page as you are." She added looking at Jill.

"She's called you?" Lindsay asked nudging back.

"Of course, I didn't do anything to piss her off."

Jill took a deep breath, "Well I guess I'm going to have to face Denise eventually," as she stood to leave her cell rang.

"Bernhardt."

_You are a hard person to find. I've been trying your office all day._

"Well you found me, who is this?" Jill waved her hand at Lindsay.

_That's not important. I just wanted to let you know that the Register had no right to publish that article_._  
_

"Who is this?" Jill asked again as she put the phone on speaker.

_Ah, speaker. Inspector Boxer must me there. As I said, they had no right so I am taking care of them for you. That article made it sound like what I'm doing is your fault. Your friend really should have stood up for you.  
_

"What are you talking about?" Jill asked frantically.

_I owe you a lot, I'm just repaying my debt._ And with that he hung up.

Lindsay stood up, "Give me your phone, we'll see if we can trace that call." She looked at Claire, "call Cindy and tell her that there was a threat against the paper and to clear out." As she was talking she took out her own phone, "Tom we need units down at the Register, some psycho just made a threat against them. No, I don't know. No, I don't think it's a hoax. Yes, I'm on my way now."

Lindsay took off with Jill following and Claire on the phone trying to contact Cindy.

* * *

Cindy was sitting at her desk, where she had been all day, when her cell rang. Since it was Claire's name on the id she answered. "This better be you or I'm hanging up."

"Cindy, some guy just called Jill and made a threat against the paper."

"Why call her, that doesn't make sense." she said as she began scanning the office.

"It sounded like our vigilante, he is doing this for her and he didn't like Scott's article."

Cindy locked onto Scott standing next to his desk. She stood and started toward him, "was it a threat against him or the paper?"

"What does it matter, just get people out of the building. Lindsay is on her way." Claire was beginning to sound desperate.

Cindy was still moving toward Scott when she saw he was beginning to unwrap a package, "hey Scott. Don't open that."

"Cindy get out of there." Claire yelled into the phone. Then the line went dead.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Lindsay and Jill got to the paper the street was already crowed with squad cars, two ambulances and plenty of people. They forced their way through the crowd and Lindsay badged one of the uni-s. "What happened."

"There was a bomb upstairs Inspector."

"Any fatalities?" Lindsay asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.

"No, it wasn't very powerful. The guy it was meant for got the most of it, but he was grabbed at the last minute by someone else. Could've been worse for him." Lindsay nodded and followed Jill who was making her way to the ambulances. They stopped at the first and saw Scott was being loaded in, "how's he doing?" Lindsay asked the EMT.

"He got burned on his hands and some in the face. But he'll be fine."

Jill silently moved to the next and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Cindy sitting on the bumper.

The EMT was bandaging her right arm and shoulder while she had her head down resting on her left hand. Lindsay walked up behind Jill, "how are you doing?"

A startled Cindy looked up, "I'm fine."

"Shouldn't you go to the hospital." Jill directed her question to the EMT.

"No. I'm fine." Cindy answered quickly.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea, but it's not really necessary." The EMT answered.

Cindy looked past her two friends. "Look out." She said as she saw her editor coming over.

"Thomas," he glanced at Lindsay and Jill then looked back to Cindy, "figure out what you are. I want this story in one hour." He turned and started to walk away. Cindy held up her left hand, "you'll get it in two, I'm typing one handed." He glared at her and then walked away. He didn't like the sarcasm and she didn't care. Once she got her arm in a sling she stood from the bumper.

"What did he mean, what you are?" Jill asked

"It's not important, he's just a wind bag. So are you going to tell me what happened." She barely got the question out before she was wrapped up in Claire's arms.

"Did I tell you to get out." Claire asked.

"Yes." Cindy let her friend hold her even though it hurt like hell.

"And did you get out?"

"Not exactly," Cindy finally pulled away and looked up with a slight smile.

"Don't go too hard on her, she may have saved Scott's life." Lindsay said as she put her arm around Claire.

"Shouldn't you go to the hospital?" Claire asked, directing her question to Lindsay.

Cindy threw her hand into the air, as if to say _I'm right here_.

"Already covered." Jill stated taking Cindy's hand out of the air.

"Ok, so are we going to talk about this phone call." Cindy said as she squeezed Jill's hand.

"The guy calls Jill's cell says he is 'taking care' of the Register for her. Then he says he is doing this to repay some debt he owes her," Lindsay loses herself in thought , "he didn't say what the debt was though."

"Why would a criminal be indebted to a prosecutor?" Cindy asked, picking up on Lindsay's train of thought.

"I think you should run with this story. All of it." Jill said forcefully.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Cindy said shaking her head Her three friends all stare at her in disbelief. "What?"

"You were so mad that we wouldn't let you go with this yesterday that you ignored us all day." Lindsay answered.

"We have more information now. This guy is, apparently, doing this for Jill. If I put that out there it could piss him off. Make him feel betrayed, like she doesn't appreciate it or that she is against him. That could push him into doing something more." This time Cindy didn't feel conflicted about doing this story.

Lindsay nodded and stood taking in her point, "okay. Write about the murders being connected, even tie in the bombing, just leave Jill's connection out."

Cindy looked up at Jill and back to Lindsay, "are you sure that's a good idea?" She wasn't completely sold.

"Yeah, I think it will be fine. And to be sure I'll put a car on Jill." Lindsay gave a questioning look to Jill.

"Fine." Jill responded.

"You could have your old room back." Claire added.

"I'll take the cops." Jill said with a wink

"So, then what do we do to find this guy?" Claire asked. "Same as usual, old cases?"

"Good a place as any, I guess." Lindsay said, not convinced. "Like Cindy said though, why be indebted to a prosecutor."

"Because we are awesome." Jill laughed.

"Maybe it's someone related to a victim and they are grateful that you got a conviction." Cindy added.

Lindsay thought about the idea for a second, "he would have to be really grateful."

"Okay, well you guys go figure it out, I have to go to work." Cindy stated as she started backing away, "I'll send you a copy before it goes to print."

"We'll be at my office." Jill yelled after her.


	4. Chapter 4

They sat in Jill's office for hours and the only thing they accomplished was approving Cindy's article for print.

"I just can't see any of these people going on a killing spree as a thank you." Lindsay threw her latest file into the 'no' pile.

"Well what else do we have to go on?" Claire asked as she grabbed another file. "We know it's not a disgruntled prosecutor." She gave Jill a smile.

"Wait a minute," Lindsay said shaking her finger at Claire, "maybe we are looking at this wrong. What if it is someone who worked all three cases?" She looked to Jill.

"I didn't do it." Jill said with a laugh.

Lindsay responded with a tired smile. "We should be going over the three murders. Start at the beginning of each case and work it all the way to their murder. See if there is the slightest similarity."

Lindsay stopped and looked up, "do I smell pizza?" she asked as Cindy walked through the door.

"I figured you could use a dinner break, a very late dinner." She walked over and plopped the pizza on Jill's desk.

Jill looked up with a smile, "what no beer?"

"Give me a break, I'm handicapped, it was hard enough carrying this." she answered with a laugh. She watched as Jill's smile faded and she went back to the file in front of her. "Are you okay?" Cindy asked.

"Fine." Jill answered not looking up.

Claire stood and looked to Lindsay, "why don't we go down the hall and get some drinks from the machine."

Cindy stood watching Jill as she stared at the file in front of her, obviously not reading it. "Jill?"

"We should have let you go with your story yesterday." Jill finally answered.

"I don't deny that. And honestly I was going to, but when I walked into the paper last night and David told me the story that he and Scott had worked up," she stopped, knowing that Jill would be compelled to look up at her. When she did Cindy continued, "I got a little defensive. I told David that he was wrong and I just needed more time to get the right story. But he can be an ass."

"You could have really gotten hurt."

"You are not responsible for the extreme lunacy of some psychotic. I could have listened to Claire and just tried to clear the building. But when I saw Scott with a package I just, well let's just say that Lindsay's paranoia is rubbing off." With that Jill finally smiled back.

"I like to call it cautiousness." Lindsay said from the doorway. Cindy turned to face her with a laugh.

"So you were trying to be a hero?" Claire asked with a smirk.

Cindy took a pop from Claire, "there is room for more than one isn't there?" She asked with a wink to Lindsay. To which Lindsay just rolled her eyes.

Jill took some plates and napkins out of her bottom draw and opened the pizza. "I think you should just stick to sidekick."

Cindy shot her a glare, "not that the twerp listened to me either way. I said _don't open that_ and right when I get to him what's he do, he opens it. So, like an idiot, I put my arm across his chest and try to pull him back."

"Hey, he would most likely be a lot worse off if you hadn't." Claire said as she grabbed some pizza and handed the plate to Cindy.

"Yeah, well." Cindy took the plate with a smile and moved to the couch. "So where are we anyway?"

Lindsay leaned against the desk and started in on her food. "I think these are a dead end. We need to find a connection between the three cases and the murders. Find someone with a stake in all three."

Cindy tilted her head and looked at Jill. "I've already been cleared, smart-ass."

"Why don't we all go home get some sleep and start back at the beginning in the morning." Claire advised as she dumped her empty plate in the garbage.

"Good idea," Lindsay agreed, "fresh start for a fresh angle." She looked at Cindy, "you going to be okay?"

Cindy looked at her, slightly annoyed, "I'm fine."

Lindsay put her hands up, "okay." And with that she and Claire left.

Cindy stood and looked to Jill, "you want help cleaning up?"

"I'll do it in the morning."

"You okay? No more guilt?" Cindy asked cautiously.

"Yes, I'm fine." Jill smiled, "why is it when someone asks if you are okay you get all snippy?"

"It's all part of my charm. Now, let's go, I'll walk out with you."

As they started towards the door Jill asked, "so what did David mean today? What you are?"

"Nothing."

"Cindy?"

"He asked me last night if I was a journalist or a publicist."

"You're right. He is an ass."

* * *

I know this is another fuff chapter but I'm still working out who done it. Plus my brain keeps going to the next story.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Lindsay got to work early and had the three case files hanging on the bulletin board as the her three friends slowly filtered in to help. "Okay so, here's what we have." Lindsay walked up to the board motioning to the first picture.

"Samuel Anderson—52 years old, made his fortune in real estate, hired someone to kill his young, pregnant wife. He lost a good portion of his estate in a previous divorce so the assumed motive for this killing was to protect what was left. He maintained that the prenuptial agreement was proof enough of his innocence. Anderson had an alibi for the time of the killing and none of the evidence led us to the killer. He was arrested on November 10th but due to lack of evidence he was released on November 27th. He was the latest victim, killed on June 25th." Lindsay moved to the next picture.

"John Easton-40 years old, had a history of spousal abuse. He lost his job back in October and that is when he turned his anger towards his kids. He beat his one son so bad that he ended up in the hospital and they weren't sure if the damage would be permanent or not. He was arrested at the hospital on November 17th, but the wife wouldn't press charges and the state was reluctant to prosecute the family's sole bread winner, job or not. So he was released on December 12th, with the understanding that he would go to counseling. He was killed May 25th."

"I really wanted this case" Jill added. "At the very least some court appointed counseling, but without the wife's help D.A. Pratt was unwilling to let it go to trial."

"Finally we have Mark Evans," Lindsay said as she moved to the third picture. "He was a 24 year old college drop-out who lived at home with his mother. It was believed that he had a fight with his mother and he killed her. Unfortunately it was a bad search by the first officers on the scene and the knife got thrown out by the judge, and we had no other physical evidence. He was arrested on December 8th and released on December 28th. He was killed on April 25th."

Lindsay stepped back and studied the board. "Okay, so why these three."

"Other than me are there any other connections?" Jill asked

"Well they all died one month apart. As far as the cases go, Jacobi and I worked the Anderson case, Cole worked on Easton, and Fong and Hollis handled Evans. There were different judges, there was a social worker assigned to the Easton and Evans cases but not Anderson. The only other similarity is the responding officers. Simmons and Cash were the first officers on all three scenes." Lindsay turned around to look at her friends.

"All three men were shot at close range with a 9mm handgun. There was no physical evidence on the bodies and no signs of struggle. Whoever killed them knew what he was doing." Claire added.

"It doesn't make any sense. Why would either one of these officers kill these guys. Even if they felt guilty about the knife getting tossed out of the Evans case why go back to a case six months old." Cindy asked as she studied the board.

"Well we know it wasn't Simmons." Jacobi offered from behind his desk. "He died back in February, I think it was."

"I remember that," all attention turned to Jill as she spoke. "It was an auto accident. His partner came to see me because he was worried about benefits being denied to Simmons' wife."

"Why come see you?" Lindsay asked.

"Simmons had taken a leave of absence and there were rumors of depression so Cash was worried about the accident being ruled a suicide. He thought that since the other driver had alcohol in his system if I could get a conviction against him it would prove that it wasn't a suicide. So I did."

"I remember that, Simmons had a small amount alcohol in his system too." Claire interjected. "How did you get a conviction?"

"I got the other driver to take a plea deal so Simmons alcohol level never came into play."

"Jill."

"Lindsay, the guy was a cop with a wife and kids. I didn't want his benefits messed up. Besides the other guy was above the legal limit, it was a good conviction."

"Okay, so is Cash the kind of guy who would kill someone as a thank you or send flowers?" Cindy asked sarcastically.

"He is still a cop." Lindsay said, slightly annoyed with Cindy's tone.

"Yeah, a cop who may have killed three men, granted they don't deserve much sympathy. But Scott did not deserve to have a bomb go off in his face."

"No, he didn't" Lindsay softened her tone. "Cash may not even be our man. Jacobi and I will track him down and talk to him." Lindsay walked over to her desk drawer for her badge and gun, "Claire, go over the autopsy files again and see if there is anything, other than the gun, that could tie the victims to the shooter."

"I'll be in court for the rest of the day, I'll check back in with you after." Jill said as she left the squad.

"Well I guess I will head back to the paper. Let me know when you have any news that's fit to print."


	6. Chapter 6

After her day in court Jill headed back to her office. On the way she checked in with Lindsay only to discover that she and Jacobi had no luck finding Officer Cash. As Jill entered her office she realized she could have saved herself the call. "Officer Cash, you know Inspector Boxer has been looking for you." Jill stayed in the doorway not sure if she should go in or run the other way.

"I know she is, but I wanted to speak with you first. You can come in I'm not going to hurt you." Cash said noticing Jill's apprehension.

Jill smiled as she walked over and sat behind her desk. "Of course not, thought never crossed my mind."

"That's good. I guess since Boxer is looking for me she figured out that I'm the one that killed those three guys."

"We suspected but we couldn't figure out why. On the phone you said you were doing it to repay a debt, but you don't owe me anything."

"It wasn't all for you. I mean I appreciate what you did for Bruce's family after his accident but it was mainly for him."

"Do you want me to call Inspector Boxer or maybe a lawyer for you." Jill was as equally concerned for this sad man in front of her as she was making sure that he paid for his crimes.

"No, I don't need a lawyer and I wrote everything down on that pad there for Boxer. And I figured you could give it to your friend at the paper too, I really don't know why I sent that bomb there. It's just, I think I lost it finally."

"It's okay, everybody walked away. So, do you want to tell me why you did what you did?"

"Bruce was in such bad shape that last month, I honestly don't know if it was an accident or not. But that last case, the Evans case, Bruce was really tore up about the knife getting thrown out. That punk kid actually thanked us one day after court, that sent him over the edge."

"But why did you go after Evans? Bruce was already dead, what did you want to accomplish?" Jill asked.

"Justice." was the simple answer.

"Justice for Bruce? I really am trying to understand and I almost get the Evans kid, you feel like you made a mistake. But why the other two and why the bomb."

"I have a hard time understanding in myself. Bruce had a lot of guilt over that kid getting off. The other two cases were just ones that ate at him. Do you ever have cases like that?" Jill simply nodded.

"These three finally pushed him over the edge. He was drinking a lot and talking crazy. His wife took the kids to her mother's for a few weeks, hoping that he would pull it back together. But it just made things worse, he started talking about getting justice for those mens families." He stopped talking, took a deep breath and stared out of the window. Finally he turned back to Jill, "I don't know why I sent that bomb. I guess I felt guilty that you were being dragged into this whole mess, it was really great the way you saved Bruce's reputation."

"Hey, I was just doing my job. It was a good conviction, that other driver was drunk."

"Even so, I appreciated it." He turned to look out of the window again. "I think I'm ready to talk to Boxer now." He said quietly without turning back to look at her.

"Okay, why don't I just run down and get her." Jill stood and walked over to the door, "I'm glad you decide to come in on your own. I'm sure we are going to be able to work something out." Once Jill was out in the hallway she heard the awful **Bang **ring out in her office.Almost asif she had expected it she just continued walking on her quest to find Lindsay.

* * *

I know the ending feels rushed somewhere along there I just lost my way. Needless to say I'm not totally happy with this one so I appreciate all those who took the time to read and review.

I will try to do something more with the next one.


End file.
